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Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

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Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#51

Post by diN0bot »

mahmud wrote: post #14
jeff18 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SubEthaEdit is awesome, and I bought a copy for ~$45 back in the day. However, because it is expensive and a Mac OS X only desktop application, I have only had opportunity to use it maybe once or twice. :(

$45 is not expensive for anyone in a developed country, specially as a business expense. That's how much you would pay for a decent dinner for one and 2 drinks by the glass.

my husband and i don't eat out. in fact, we live in a cooperative with 7 other folks in order to efficiently share rent, utilities, grociers, chores and cooking. $45? oof. there's some software i pay for, but that's because it's worth it. as a startup software developer myself, i also feel empathetic to the cause. i rarely buy things because "it isn't expensive so why not."

it's true that this might not be strictly necessary. i could buy 7 etha edits a month or pay rent....and since i only need 1 etha edit forever, it's orders of magnitude less expensive compared to rent.

still, the numbers just tell me why it might be ok to make the purchase. if i threw away 1/7th of rent every month that would add up to a non-trivial amount. so, yeah, it better be worth it.

Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#52

Post by trotzke »

jeff18 wrote: post #30
trotzke wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe down the road. We are only about 3 days old. :)

Dude, if I were you, I'd drop everything I'm doing and try to push out a feature complete EtherPad replacement within the next few days. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who used to use EtherPad and are now stranded. Their product is tried and true and just vanished off the face of the planet because it was that good. Why would you ignore that and try to carve a small niche for yourself for c…

I agree that as a company we're in great position to capitalize on this opportunity. Repurposing our core real-time editing technology to create something like EtherPad may be a very good idea. But turning Squad into EtherPad isn't.

The next direction for Squad is better project handling via a tree file browser, SFTP, version control hooks, etc. not adding formating buttons or making shares embedable. I think Squad and EtherPad were diverging like say Dreamweaver and Word. That's not to say we wouldn't like to capitalize on both the Dreamweaver and Word markets. :)

Here is my suggestion, I say you (or someone else passionate about this) go over to http://sproutbox.com/apply and fill out an app for recreating something like EtherPad. If you're selected, you'd be working with the same team that built Squad. We'd donate a big chunk of real-time editing code and you'd have something up around the time EtherPad shuts down. Win Win.

But hurry, apps close tomorrow at 11:59pm.

Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#53

Post by jeff18 »

dangoor wrote: post #47
jeff18 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like the most promising successor. Unfortunately it does not look like you can embed a collaborative pad or share it via a link. You need to register an account, go through Mozilla's website, and actually use the command line to join up. Why a website has a command line is a little beyond me!

Bespin definitely does not have the same sort of "just start editing a shared document" user interface that etherpad does. That isn't really our primary goal. As for the command line: I really wish TextMate had a command line. I truly think the command line is going to be one of Bespin's fantastic features (though I'll agree with anyone that it is not a replacement for other nice bits of UI). (ObDisclaimer: I'm on th…

"I truly think the command line is going to be one of Bespin's fantastic features"

No offense, but this is why EtherPad just got acquired for 8 figures and BeSpin is on track for obscurity.

Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#55

Post by jeff18 »

trotzke wrote: post #52
jeff18 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dude, if I were you, I'd drop everything I'm doing and try to push out a feature complete EtherPad replacement within the next few days. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who used to use EtherPad and are now stranded. Their product is tried and true and just vanished off the face of the planet because it was that good. Why would you ignore that and try to carve a small niche for yourself for c…

I agree that as a company we're in great position to capitalize on this opportunity. Repurposing our core real-time editing technology to create something like EtherPad may be a very good idea. But turning Squad into EtherPad isn't. The next direction for Squad is better project handling via a tree file browser, SFTP, version control hooks, etc. not adding formating buttons or making shares embedable. I think Squad a…

Well, I hope that works out for you. Honestly, it sounds like you are going to be left by the roadside while a more nimble dude jumps in and capitalizes on the demise of EtherPad. Good night and good luck!

Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#56

Post by grayrest »

jeff18 wrote: post #53
dangoor wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bespin definitely does not have the same sort of "just start editing a shared document" user interface that etherpad does. That isn't really our primary goal. As for the command line: I really wish TextMate had a command line. I truly think the command line is going to be one of Bespin's fantastic features (though I'll agree with anyone that it is not a replacement for other nice bits of UI). (ObDisclaimer: I'm on th…

"I truly think the command line is going to be one of Bespin's fantastic features" No offense, but this is why EtherPad just got acquired for 8 figures and BeSpin is on track for obscurity.

I'll point out that I doubt that amount EtherPad's purchase matters to a MOZILLA editor team and that the project being from Mozilla provides at least some guard against obscurity...

Re: Ask HN: alternatives to EtherPad?

#60

Post by chris123 »

jeff18 wrote: post #55
trotzke wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that as a company we're in great position to capitalize on this opportunity. Repurposing our core real-time editing technology to create something like EtherPad may be a very good idea. But turning Squad into EtherPad isn't. The next direction for Squad is better project handling via a tree file browser, SFTP, version control hooks, etc. not adding formating buttons or making shares embedable. I think Squad a…

Well, I hope that works out for you. Honestly, it sounds like you are going to be left by the roadside while a more nimble dude jumps in and capitalizes on the demise of EtherPad. Good night and good luck!

Our by Google, when they roll out EtherPad-like features to Google Docs. Oops.
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